Show THE UNITARIAN MOVEMENT DURING DUBINO the past two or three days the subject of unitarianism has been under tinder discussion in this city ministers of different denominations have been permitted to explain their religions in its conference but this this was chiefly to make a basis for unitarian comments it is possible that some good may come out of this friendly discussion we are not among those who fear agitation inertia is most to foe be dreaded to stir up thought is one arc object of pye preaching aching lecturing and writing the truth is not terrified by opposition but naturally provokes it in the midst of a world of error but there is danger to superficial thinkers in the movement to exalt what to is called unitarianism above all creeds and all systems claiming to be divine it is a specious kind of skepticism while claiming to be christian in that it professes sees a sort of beliet belief in christ an tto defined faith in an in comprehensible deity and it a qualified acceptance of the bible as an a guide it yet in r reality goes against the christianity of jesus and his apostles the doctrine of a personal substantial god and aad the principle of actual revelation by direct intercourse with the deity avowing extreme liberality and protesting that it to is not destructive it yet indulges in that liberty which ignores law pretending to have advanced beyond it and tries to break in pieces all creeds and dogmas and to itt east cast to the winds those fixed principles which are the foundations of the Uh christian ristian religion expounded and in misted fisted upon ly by its great exemplar and his authorized evangelists A gospel without fixed and fundamental principles plea a gospee goB pel without definite authority a 9 gospel without divine revelation is not the gospel of christ but some corae other flother gospel 22 that gjul pul of old denounced with all the vigor of his eloquence and the power of his bis apostleship it may do for people who have nothing better and we believe that in some respects it is better than no religion at all lori dorany any klad kind of deism is somewhat preferable to atheism but it i is s not to be designated as a system or a theology it is like a ship on the ocean without rudder or compass or captain with starlight perhaps as a guide but with each bewildered passenger as his bis own reader of the signs above and aad his bis own g guesser as to the rocks and shoals be abr ia neata many estimable people mee meet under unitarian auspices and much pleasant and sometimes excellent observations are made by its orators but it can scarcely be truthfully called a church no one can state definitely its doctrines it has so BO god that can be brought within the understanding of man no savior in the sense in which jesus proclaimed him self the christ no ordinances as visible forms of mans obedience and divine acceptance and no authority to settle controversy or establish bisci pline pi inc thus while it affords opportunities for thinking people to speculate on things that lift the mini from that w which aich is merely earthly and sensuous and does not assume con arol of the souls of men to bring them into bondage it is yet utterly unsatisfactory as an exponent of theology as a guide in the way of life as a revealer of the divine to mortals add abd as any sort of a system to claim the adherence of a soul seeking for aid to salvation it has been denounced as an infidel this is perhaps unjust and too severe and yet it is in a species of skepticism that to is very insidious and its tendency is rather to weaken and destroy that faith without which it is impossible tw to please god and which is essential to salvation rather than to quicken and and in this in our opinion lies iles its chief defect and its greatest injury to people who are not roofed and grounded in the truth and who can be turned aside from the revealed gospel and be tt tossed ossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine it is in of no earthly use to latter day saints |